Negotiation
by twicebornbacchus
Summary: Oneshot; set in Infinity. Fai refuses to eat; Kurogane refuses to let him hurt himself. "Are you doing this to punish me, or you?" Written for mikkeneko.


Sakura's door shut; the _click_ of the latch pressing into the frame insert resounded with the authority of a shout in the apartment. Fai walked over to the couch with the posture of a man ignoring an ignorable presence; head down, gaze in the opposite direction, shoulders slumped forward.

Kurogane glanced at Syaoran's bedroom and heard only the same silence. He shifted on his feet, leaning against the kitchen wall. Maybe he was asleep; maybe not. Either way…

Fai sat down wearily on the couch, his palms turned upward into the hollows of his eyes, elbows digging into his knees.

"Are you doing this to punish me, or you?"

A single blue eye looked up through the slits in his fingers at him. The venom from Fai's glare made his blood cold; it was true that at one point he had hated Fai – no, maybe hated was even too soft of a word. _Repulsed _was better; at one point, he had been repulsed by this person in front of him who embraced a life of meaninglessness, purposelessness, as one would be repulsed by looking into a mirror and seeing a distorted, _wrong _version of yourself. Repulsion had melted away into hatred and annoyance, begrudging acceptance and then, eventually, camaraderie had snuck up on him and, before he realized it, he had discovered the first real friend in his life. Tomoyo was something bigger to him – she was like a god who oversaw his world and knew his heart, and yes, she was a friend, too – but she had opened her heart to him when he had needed it. His friendship with Fai was different, the first of its kind in his life that had grown on even ground with someone else…

And he had never thought it possible that one day Fai would hate _him. _

"It's been three days." As quietly as he spoke, Kurogane heard his words ricochet around him, deafening.

Fai's hands fell away. He sat up straight, his hair falling down to his neck. "Three and a half days," he corrected, and his words came out in the tight hiss of indignation that Kurogane had found himself bracing for even before the magician spoke. "Or did you forget when you did this to me?"

He ignored the barb; an image flashed through his mind – a memory of himself, young and scared and _furious _at the world, knuckles white and clenched around the hilt of a sword on a bloody, open plain. He took a step forward, hands digging into his pockets. "How long do you intend to keep this up?"

Fai watched him wearily; he broke into a smile suddenly, his remaining eye flashing. "I'm conducting an experiment to find out. It's good to know these sorts of things, don't you think?"

"Why?"

"I'd hate to inconvenience you."

"Our first match is tomorrow."

"Yes, I know. I was there with you when we registered."

"Can you even stand up?"

Fai's jaw snapped shut; he rose, very slowly, until he had drawn himself up to his full height. Even then, he tilted his gaze up to stare at Kurogane.

"Yes." The word lashed at him, cruel. "All I have to do is get to the arena and back. Everything else is up to Sakura – it won't matter what condition I'm in. Just her."

"Here's a question for you." Kurogane took another step forward, his fists clenching in his pockets. They were standing face to face now, and still they whispered. "What condition do you think she'll be in when she sees you grow weaker every day? How do you think that will make her feel, when she sees someone she cares about dying a little more every hour?"

Fai's face clouded over; Kurogane wanted to punch him – he should have known; appealing to his own well being was useless, but when it came to the welfare of someone else… Fai's gaze fell away.

"It's not her fault. She'll understand –"

"That you're an idiot? And no, she won't. She'll blame herself, and it will eat away at her until she can't stand it anymore. And then –"

"_Stop._" Fai moved to turn away; Kurogane reached out and grasped his wrist, stopping him. A yellow eye, slitted and inhuman, glared at him over the magician's shoulder. "Let. _Go._"

"I won't."

Fai looked thoughtfully down at his free hand, cocking his head to the side, as if puzzling over how it had come to be attached to his body. Years of experience caught the slight movement, the miniscule flick of the wrist, and then Kurogane had let go and stepped back as four razor-edged rapiers slashed at him.

The tip of his middle finger, the longest, had just managed to knick his forearm. The faint scratch blossomed with a shade of red and stopped, not deep enough to bleed.

Kurogane looked up; Fai was staring at him in shock, disbelieving his own actions. The claws disappeared, and the man collapsed backward, down onto the couch, fingers running up through his hair.

"I'm sorry." His words came out in a shaking mess. "I hate this."

Kurogane moved forward until he was seated next to him. He tugged at the collar of his shirt, unbuttoning it until his collarbone was visible. Fai looked up, and now Kurogane could see how his eye was rimmed with red and sleeplessness. Fai watched him slowly, his gaze moving from his neck to the cut on his arm and back again.

Kurogane tried to relieve the tension. He shrugged a little, pretending to relax. "I got bit by a dog once. Didn't hurt. You don't look as dangerous as a dog." It was a lie; he'd never been stupid enough to be bit by any animal, but all the same, he hoped it would convince him.

Their gaze met; Fai's face flushed with embarrassment. Kurogane looked away, off toward the kitchen, and waited.

It was another moment before he heard the rustling of clothing and felt a hand press against the flat of his shoulder. He could feel the weight of another person pushing against him, straining up to him.

Lips pressed against the hollow of his throat; he flinched from surprise and made a vow to himself never to flinch again, because Fai froze. The edges of his bangs were trembling, brushing against the underside of his jaw like the delicate feathers of some small, weightless creature, and a tongue licked at his skin just as teeth pressed into him…

Nothing happened. Kurogane waited, his lungs burning as he held his breath, but suddenly Fai was pulling himself away, shaking his head.

"I can't do it." He was shrinking away from him now, holding his head in his hands, mumbling to himself. "I can't hurt you."

"_Idiot._" A real anger burned him, hot with exasperation. "I already told you, it won't hurt –"

"You're a terrible liar."

"And you're a good one?"

Fai looked up at him with the expression of someone who had mastered the art of not crying when they needed to. "I'm the best one you'll ever meet."

Kurogane stood up, fuming, and crossed to the corner of the room where he had left his sword propped against the wall. He yanked it out of the scabbard with disregard for the blade.

Fai blinked, watching as he drew close again. "You intend to fight me? Go ahead – I'm not going to do anything. I won't hurt you," he repeated. "So you can put that blade through my throat for all I care."

"_Your _throat?" Kurogane grabbed him by the collar with one hand and hoisted him to his feet. "Don't be so goddamn self-centered." With a shove, he sent the blond careening back down onto the couch, gazing up at him in confusion.

Kurogane drew the sword deep across his wrist, blood leaping up to paint the blade. He dropped it to the floor in disinterest and closed the distance between them.

Fai was scrambling to get up, his eyes wide with panic. "Kurogane – _get off!_"

Kuorgane straddled him on the couch, shoving him back down, and grabbed a fistful of his hair. He pulled Fai's neck backward, pressing his wrist against his lips.

"_Drink, _you _idiot_…" He had meant to sound demanding; instead, he shocked himself by how much his words sounded like a plea.

Fai clenched his teeth against him, trying to wrench himself away, but the flood was flowing too fast and too much over him. The air began to grow damp with the smell of the coppery liquid and somewhere, in the back of mind, an absurd thought floated up: he'd have to see if there were any cleaning materials in the kitchen. He wouldn't want Sakura to see the bloodstains on the couch.

The liquid poured down the edges of Fai's mouth, still pressed firmly shut against him, sliding down his neck until Kurogane could see his own blood begin to pool in Fai's clavicle, soaking into his clothes. Fai was still fighting against him, but his eye was open now, wide with fear and longing and dismay…and hate. That was still there, too.

His mouth opened; Kurogane shivered at the feeling of the slight suction of being fed on, and made a second vow never to shiver again. He would do nothing to make Fai uncomfortable, and even now he looked away in an attempt to afford Fai some warped sense of privacy as he fed on his blood.

Perhaps it didn't take much, or perhaps some stubborn streak was still inside him, but only a few minutes passed before Fai was done. _How _he knew Fai was done, he couldn't be sure – it might have been the way his struggles ceased altogether, or the way his eye finally shut, tired, and remained close.

Kurogane stood and went to the kitchen; a first aid kit had been shoved under the sink, unopened. He yanked out the bandages, stretching them open with his teeth, and began wrapping his wrist tightly to stop the blood flow.

Fai had sat up on the couch; his front and neck were covered in blood. He stared at himself, frozen in shock.

"Hey." Kurogane came back into the living room. "Get yourself cleaned up."

Fai's mouth opened, wordless, and closed again.

He allowed himself to be drawn into the kitchen, leaned against the sink. Kurogane grabbed a dish rag, wet it, and began wiping the blood away from his neck, dabbing at the corner of his mouth. Between Syaoran, Sakura, Mokona, and now Fai, too, he found himself becoming oddly…domestic.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"What?" The words were too quiet for him to discern.

"Sick," Fai repeated. He swallowed thickly, clutching the sink. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Let me know if you're gonna throw up so I can take this bandage off."

"…Off?"

"So I can replace whatever you throw up."

Fai held onto the edge of the sink tighter, caught in the struggle of wanting to wretch and holding himself back from it.

"Your clothes." Water ran over the dishrag; Kurogane turned it tightly, watching as blood spiraled down the drain. He didn't need to glance at Fai to know that he, too, was watching. "You should change them. Get them soaking to get the blood out."

Fai looked down, horrified. "You're right." He stumbled forward, caught himself, and straightened. He paused in the living room, his back to Kurogane. Something of his steeliness from earlier had returned, but his voice floated back to him with a new, softer tone.

"…We need to find a less messier way to do this."

Fai's door shut; Kurogane grunted, dumped some soap on the dishrag, and went to scrub the blood out of the couch.

**Fin. **


End file.
